NEW: Biden learned of @SecDef Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization several days after the fact and received no advance notice from Pentagon officials. (Confirming Politico.)

Biden was informed by Jeff Zients and Jake Sullivan, I’m told. bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Biden and @SecDef Lloyd Austin hadn’t spoken at all after the president was informed Thursday about Austin’s heath issues and hospitalization, but they just spoke this evening, I’m told.

*BIDEN TO ZELENSKIY: I DON'T WANT YOU GIVING UP HOPE Biden in Oval with Zelenskiy says he just signed $200m drawdown for ukraine

BREAKING: Biden admin is weighing whether to postpone or cancel Blinken’s upcoming trip to Beijing after detecting a Chinese surveillance balloon, sources tell @iainmarlow @jendeben @PeterMartin_PCM and me. 🚨Blinken’s trip to China is postponed.

@SecBlinken was to have mtgs in Beijing next week in 1st such visit by top US diplomat in 5 years. But the presence of the balloon—which the Pentagon decided not to shoot down—led officials to decide that going now would send wrong signal.

*DOJ TOOK ANOTHER 6 ITEMS INCLUDING DOCUMENTS FROM BIDEN HOME Justice Department officials did “a thorough” 12-hour search of Biden’s Wilmington home on Friday; it began at 9:45 a.m. and finished around 10:30 p.m. DOJ found six more “items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials.”

Scoop: US **and Germany** will send armored vehicles to Ukraine, a significant upgrade in firepower urgently sought by @ZelenskyyUa.

US will send Bradleys; Germany to send Marders, sources tell @mcnienaber @PeterMartin_PCM & me.

Biden to speak to @OlafScholz today, I’m told. US officials had previously balked at sending armored vehicles, saying heavier weapons would be too difficult for Ukraine to operate/maintain. But allies are moving to provide such weapons—Poland with tanks, France w/ AMX-10RC armored vehicles. Story here:
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Biden is considering a visit to the US-Mexico border next week, sources tell me. It would be his 1st trip there as POTUS.

One possible border town the White House is looking at for the stop: El Paso, I'm told. "That's my intention, we're working out the details now,” Biden tells reporters on tarmac in Kentucky when asked about US / Mexico border trip.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Biden took a few questions before leaving for Kentucky Asked if relishing trouble in speaker race, Biden: “No. And I really mean this: How do you think it looks to the rest of the world?” US finally getting through January 6 issues. “It’s not a good thing. This is the United States of America. And I hope they get their act together.”

Scoop: Biden admin is discussing sending Bradley Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine, sources tell me and @AlbertoNardelli. “Bradleys would provide a major increase in ground combat capability because it is, in effect, a light tank,” one analyst says.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/… And the Patriot system will be operational in Ukraine in the springtime. US officials believe training the Ukrainian forces will take about three months, sources say.

The US is aware of media reports alleging that two Russian missiles have landed in Poland, per Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman. As was the case with other NATO members, Ryder said the US didn’t yet have enough info to corroborate reports. per @business Russia dismissed reports its missiles had landed in Poland as a “deliberate provocation” aimed at escalating tensions.

Its defense ministry said it had aimed no weapons near Ukrainian-Polish border; debris shown in media didn’t match Russian weapons.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Biden’s fundraiser in NYC is at home of Henry Muñoz. Among the guests Robert DeNiro. “My living room looks better with furniture—and with views—but today it looks better because my dear dear friend is here,” Henry Muñoz says of Biden, at fundraiser at his 31st floor Park Av home in NYC. It will raise about $2 million for DNC & Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund.

*BIDEN TO DELIVER REMARKS ON ABORTION RIGHTS TODAY Biden will deliver remarks at 12:30p today “on the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to overturn Roe v. Wade,” White House confirms

Scoop: Biden admin is planning on more funding for military weapons and equipment for Ukraine, sources tell @ACapaccio and me. This tranche will be more than $650 million. It will include, for the 1st time, vehicle-mounted Harpoon anti-ship missiles. NEWS: Biden admin new Ukraine package includes $320M for secure radios/related equipment, $55M for thermal night vision optics, $160M for training. Package will total $1 billion with additional presidential drawdown authority, per sources to me/@ACapaccio
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Biden commuted sentence for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a convicted cocaine smuggler, admin officials tell reporters on briefing call. Yaroshenko is now in Russian govt custody. In exchange, Trevor Reed is on a plane home to the United States. Reed's health added urgency, aides say. "This was not part of a broader discussion with the Russian Federation. We didn't seek that. We aren't seeking that. It was about one thing and one thing only--the safe release of Trevor, and that's something we were able to accomplish today along last," @StateDeptSpox Ned Price.

NEW: US and China will hold 1st high-level, in-person talks since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, as Biden admin continues to try to enlist Beijing to exert influence on Putin. @JakeSullivan46 to meet in Italy Monday with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, per person familiar. Jake Sullivan will also meet tomorrow with Italy’s Luigi Mattiolo, diplomatic adviser to Mario Draghi, on matters related to coordinating the international response to Russia's war on Ukraine, White House says in a statement.

NEW: Ukraine's @ZelenskyyUa on call with US senators asked for no fly zone, lethal aid, ban on Russian oil, I'm told. Also wants Visa and Mastercard use suspended in Russia, and more US businesses to leave. US senators on the Zelenskiy call, which just ended, included Chuck Schumer, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Rick Scott, Amy Klobuchar, Dan Sullivan, sources tell me. Also some US House members.

SCOOP: Biden is poised to impose sanctions on a number of Russian oligarchs and their families TODAY, sources tell @nwadhams and me.
The sanctions will be in keeping with EU measures but broader, prohibiting the oligarchs’ travel to US and also targeting their families. 🚨NEWS: Biden today will turn the screws on Putin and his inner circle for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a week ago. US targeting oligarchs' families, too, to prevent them from transferring assets to spouses or children, sources tell @nwadhams and me.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

US will sanction Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as members of the Russian national security team, @PressSec Jen Psaki says, confirming my reporting. (1st reported by @Phil_Mattingly.)

https://twitter.com/silviakillings/status/1497297043823505416

Asked if sanctions are symbolic, Psaki said she'll leave details on Putin's personal financial assets to others. This "sends a clear message about the strength of the opposition to the actions by President Putin and the direction in his leadership of the Russian military."

SCOOP: U.S. is moving its Ukraine embassy staff out of the country and into Poland for security reasons, sources tell me and @AlbertoNardelli.
They may return to tomorrow if the Russian invasion doesn’t happen, I’m told. BREAKING: The Biden admin has ordered all remaining State Department personnel out of Ukraine. The embassy had previously relocated from Kyiv to the western city of Lviv. Now they are shifting to Poland.

National Security Council meeting called for Sunday, as White House in statement again says Russia “could launch an attack against Ukraine at any time.”

POTUS was briefed today on the @VP’s meetings here in Munich with Ukraine, EU, NATO, Baltic states, Germany, Greece. When a POTUS convenes an NSC meeting, it usually includes VP; secretaries of State, Treas, Defense, Energy, DHS; AG; WH counsel; chief of staff. Can include top military, intel officials.

Such a mtg can be to help a president make a decision in advance of significant operations.

Biden says the situation with Russia/Ukraine is a rapidly escalating crisis. He says US has reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days. He called some members of Congress today to fill them in. "As of this moment, I'm convinced he's made the decision. We have reason to believe that," Biden says of Putin. The Russian president has decided to invade Ukraine, @POTUS says at the White House.

In Paris, @VP Harris says politics would be better if the attitude were more like the world of science, where ideas are tested, then refined as glitches pop up, and “no one gets beat up about it.” The @VP again used the "thee" pronunciation for the word "the" when making a point. Some critics have claimed she appeared to adopt "a fake French accent" when she said "the plan" during a tour of a research lab on Tuesday. Today at Paris press conference, she said "the topic."